Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Lately

There was Christmas. I roasted lamb. My brother and I grilled oysters. My mother and I made toast out of brioche baked by my talented colleague, Andrew. We may or may not have had a family dance party. Then there was New Years. Jess and I made potato gnocchi with tomato sauce. We made salad with fresh ricotta. We played Cards Against Humanity and laughed a lot. There have been breakfasts in bakeries. Early morning walks. Late mornings writing in bed. I spent a weekend in Vermont, where I went downhill skiing for the first time in eight years. I grew up ski racing, but I hadn’t touched a pair of skis since before the accident and resulting knee surgery. My knee has felt stable and strong for a while now, but I’d been holding on to my fear. I was afraid that I’d forgotten how to move. Afraid that I’d get hurt. It came right back, though, that muscle memory of boot in ski, of ski on snow. And as I stood on that mountain this past Saturday, an abnormally warm Saturday for January, the sky a brilliant blue above the lingering haze of fog, it felt good to let the last vestiges of my injury go.

I'm currently recovering from a badly broken arm (unlucky fall onto an unforgiving concrete sidewalk in December). Started PT last week, and my own fear is that I won't recover full range of motion and strength in that arm. But I have an excellent therapist, so hopefully that fear will turn out to be unfounded.

Hooray for skiing! I tried it for the first time last week, at the age of 33. Let's just say, I don't like being cold, and it would have been a lot easier if I had learned as a kid. I went down so many times because of my fear of going too fast, and could NOT get up without popping off a ski. Made me feel so old. I have put myself on the Cards Against Humanity waiting list, thank you for the link. Even the website made me giggle maniacally... Congrats on pushing back at your fear and hesitation, good stuff. I had a close call a few years ago, which caused me to feel utterly fragile and afraid for a long time, and I know what a struggle it is to overcome it.